7 Days New | Houston Newborn Photographer

This little guy was wide awake when I arrived this morning.  At 7 days old he had already had a solid 6 hours of sleep the night before so he took a little while to settle down.

 

After some snuggle time with mom and dad he finally started to relax and settle down (that, and several feedings!).

We moved into the family music room.  I LOVE that they have a music room.  I'm sure they'll have many sweet family events around the piano!  I loved the painting hanging over the piano too!

Dad is in a band.  He had a couple of guitars hanging around.  And I couldn't resist putting the baby in one of them!

 

Precious sweet newborn baby!  Love newborns!

Gah!  Super cute. It was so hard to narrow it down to a few pictures for the sneak peek.

By the end we finally wore him out and he rested for us.  We think he also liked being swaddled.

I've photographed mom and dad as a pre-baby couple, mom when she was pregnant, and now little baby first baby boy.  I love being a part of their special family moments!

A little peek

This shoot was done by our associate photographer Valerie just before Thanksgiving at LaCenterra.  This family could be in a GAP ad...so cute!

 

 

Photographer's Kids

The downside to being a photographer's kid is that mom pretty much always wants to take some pictures.  Today was no different.  I picked up the kids at daycare at close to 6:30.  I looked up and saw some really pretty light, and it was between rain storms so it wasn't actually raining.  What's a mom to do but swing home, pick up a camera and two cereal bars...and head to the park.  The kids ate their cereal bars in the car on the way so they wouldn't be famished and the last little bit of sunlight was still hanging around (along with some scattered dark clouds and distant lightning).  I snapped only a few pictures in what the kids wore to daycare today, and then we headed to the nearby playground until it got dark.  Everyone was wet and had a few new bug bites when we headed home but it was a fun surprise after "school" outing for the kids!

 

Second Rained Out Session

Another one of the mini sessions that were rained out from the original plan to be at Dewberry Farm but were able to make it out to LaCenterra to make up the mini session.

This little sweetie will be 3 years old in a few weeks.  Here she was almost three years ago as a newborn in the NICU (her mom and I are friends so I was able to go in and photograph her there)...

And now here she is looking all grown up!  (and yes, I too got a little weepy thinking about how much she has grown)

 

 

I'm so so jealous of her fantastic thick long curly hair!  My daughter has barely any hair still!  So beautiful!

Rained Out Mini Session

Friday I was supposed to go out to Dewberry Farm with the group from Moxie Moms to do some mini sessions on the farm.  Well, if you don't remember, it poured all day Friday so our trip had to be canceled. 

Today there was another Moxie Moms' event, this time, the Mondays with Mommy at LaCenterra so a few of the moms were able to reschedule their sessions for before that event!  

These kids are familiar to anyone who is a member of the Katy Moxie Mom's group!  We found a dry spot at LaCenterra (which is a Main Street style mall) and they had their mini session.

 

We had a great time.  And about half an hour later it started to rain so we totally lucked out!

Christmas in Cinco Ranch

I love this park that is only about 5 minutes from my house and I was in luck that my client today also only lives a few miles away.  The kids came dressed in their holiday clothes with the hope of capturing a picture for their holiday card this year.  While one little guy was pretty busy and NOT interested in staying still with his siblings we were able to get a few pictures of them at least near each other. I know this mom stays busy keeping up with these three!  Oh, did I mention it was 90 degrees and threatening to thunderstorm on us?  Yeah, they were VERY good sports.

 

 

After their holiday outfits they were able to change into these great bright colorful outfits that just made my heart sing.  How can you NOT be happy in a shirt like this! And on a playground too!!!

Taking Time Off For Family

This week I had visits from some family members that forced me to take a little time off.  And it was so great. 

On Thursday my dad was visiting from Florida so I pulled my 4 yr old son out of day care for the day and we went all over town.  First, we hit up Ray's Franks for some fantastic hot dogs.  If you haven't been be sure to check them out.

We followed up lunch with an afternoon trip the the Children's Museum of Houston.  Again, if you haven't been definitely put it to the top of your to-do list.  We are members so we do get to go pretty frequently but this is the first time I have gone with only one of my kids.  It really made a big difference because I could just let him spend as much time as he wanted to in each section.  He spent the most time building cars out of Legos.  Time to invest in some Legos for home, I think.  It was also the first time I brought my camera with me so I did take LOTS of pictures.  I put it together in a little video so you can check out some of the fun activities there too!

Children's Museum of Houston Visit from Jessica Grieves on Vimeo.

Then my brother, his wife, and their three girls came out for the weekend from San Antonio.  The cousins had a blast playing together and to be honest, we didn't see much of them because they were usually upstairs in the playroom making up games, or making a mess!  My youngest niece is only 10 months old so we took a few minutes in my backyard before they left to head home this morning to take a few quick pictures of her. She only weighs 14 lbs so she is pretty small for her age but it make it doubly fun to watch her crawl around all over the place! 

Of course, I recommend that everyone take time out of their busy schedules, as hard as it is, to spend some time with family.  And take pictures when you do so you can preserve those memories.  Want to know more about how to use your camera?  I still have openings in my Oct 4th (Sunday evening) Capturing Everyday Moments beginners' photography class. 

Making a New Friend

I had such a great time this morning photographing this little girl. She'll be 3 in November so she is only about a month older than my daughter.  She was a little shy in the beginning of our session but she warmed up to me and by the end she was holding my hand as we walked from spot to spot.  I'm pretty sure she is one of the sweetest kids I have photographed. She came with her daddy so her mom will see the pictures first online.  What a wonderful surprise!

Still warming up to me here!

Getting some last minute advice from mom!

Such beautiful eyes!

You can see more photos from this session on our Facebook Fan Page.  Or view the album here!